Tripod (li)

Ceramic unhandled-, single handled-, and double-handled li existed side-by-side during the Shang-Zhou era. Li without handles have more often been excavated from the Shaanxi-Henan area. Misidentified before the 1950s as a ruzu-li ("breast-legged tripod") of the Han dynasty, this brown, burnished li was confirmed to be a typical product of the Xiajiadian culture within Liaoning and Inner Mongolia in the northern frontier zone. Similar pieces datable to the sixth to fifth centuries BC have been reported from several sites of the upper Xiajiadian phase (KGWH Lunji 1987: 107).